Winter
Four Lady Spartans – Olivia Bonnema, Tess Richards, McKenna Rogers, and Kara VeDepo, competed in the 2025 IGHSAU State Wrestling Tournament at Xtream Arena in Coralville. VeDepo entered the tourney ranked No. 1 by IAwrestle at 105 pounds but fell in the first round and first consolation round, ending her championship quest and high school career with a 36-4 record. Rogers entered the tourney ranked No. 4 by IAwrestle at 110 pounds went 1-2 to end the season with a 28-8 record. Bonnema, ranked No. 9 at 140 pounds by IAwrestle, won her first match of the tournament 7-6 before falling in the quarterfinals and consolation round no. 2 finishing with a 23-8 record. Richards entered the tourney unranked at 115 lbs. and ended her sophomore season with a 13-7 record.
Lucas Feuerbach, Jordan Schmidt, and Charlie Karam competed in the 2025 IHSAA State Wrestling Championships with Feuerbach taking runner up at 215 pounds. Schmidt bowed out in the 144-pound second round, and Karam retired in the second round of 138-pound competition. Feuerbach, Schmidt, and Karam were all seniors for the Spartans. Finishing off their senior year by competing in the state meet was a goal for each of them and they completed it after a long season and tough offseason.
“The time they were able to put into the sport is what gave them the opportunity to get to state,” said Head Coach Aaron Hadenfeldt, “They put time into the offseason when they could have done something else. You grow as a wrestler in the offseason, and those four did that.”
The Lady Spartan hoopsters saw their season end in Mount Vernon with a 52-32 Class 3A regional semifinal loss to the rival Mustangs and a 12-11 record. Kobi Lietz (1st Team), Delainey Durr (2nd Team), Beckett Kruse (WaMaC Recognition), and Jerzey Haluska (WaMaC Recognition) earned All-Conference honors.
The varsity Spartans also came up short in their quest for a State Tournament berth falling 58-29 to undefeated Clear Lake in their Class 3A substate final. Solon’s season ended with an 18-6 record. Caleb Bock (1st Team), Isaiah Zoske (1st Team), Maddox Kelley (2nd Team), Nolan Seagren (WaMaC Recognition), and Grant Gordon (WaMaC Recognition) earned All-Conference honors.
Carson Reid and Trendon Walker earned Mississippi Valley Conference (MVC) Valley Division honors as they bowled for the Iowa City High School Little Hawks. Reid (1st Team) led City with 4,456 pins, a high game of 299, and high series of 546 and was a qualifier for the 2025 State Individual Bowling Tournament. Walker (Honorable Mention) was the Little Hawks’ second-highest scorer with 3,982 pins, a high game of 245, and a high series of 437.
Freshmen Elliott Hamm and William Thomsen swam for the Iowa City High Little Hawks.
Spring
Solon’s girls qualified seven events for the 2025 State Co-Ed Track & Field Meet — Jerzey Haluska qualified on time in the 400-meter dash, Kate Shafer won the discus in the State Qualifying meet in Mount Vernon and was third in the shot put. Fellow thrower Piper Johnson also qualified in discus. Three relay events, the 4×200 (Piper Stahle, Grace Hoeper, Marin Ashbacker, and Kobi Lietz), 4×400 (Quinn Armentrout, Jerzey Haluska, Hoeper, and Reese Hahn), and 1600-meter distance medley (Stahle, Hoeper, Hahn, and Falyn Svalstad) qualified as well.
The 4×200-meter relay saved their best of the season for the biggest moment of the year with a new season best at 1:43.87. The time was good enough for 11th place in 3A and a top 20 time in the state of Iowa this season.
Solon’s boys qualified four events for the 2025 State Co-Ed Track & Field Meet – Eli Kampman qualified on time in the 200-meter dash while Will Brandt, Owen Young, Preston Raasch, and Spencer Michels qualified on time in the 4×800 and Kaden Hoeper was an automatic qualifier with a in the high jump. Caleb Bock qualified for State in the long jump.
Hoeper took over the boys’ high jump Thursday morning at State as he jumped 6’-1”. The sophomore did not hit his season best, but he competed well enough to achieve sixth place. Brandt, Young, Raasch, and Michels landed in 19th place by running an 8:21.8 in the 4×800 on Drake’s Blue Oval.
“We weren’t asking for anything crazy or big time PR’s. We just wanted effort and competition against everyone else in the field,” said Spencer Michels, the anchor leg of the relay. “I think we did that today. We did an amazing job.”
Kampman placed 18th in the 200-meter dash by running a 22.88 in the preliminary round. The time set a new PR for Kampman.
Izzy Frees qualified for the 3A Girls State Golf Tournament, hosted by Solon at Saddleback Ridge Golf Course after qualifying as an individual with a team best score of 88 in the 3A Regional. Frees shot 84 the first day of State and followed with an 83 for 167 and a four-way tie for 32nd on the leaderboard.
The Spartan golfers claimed the WaMaC championship and won their Class 3A Sectional while Isaiah Zoske won the District Championship to lead the varsity boys to a runner-up finish in the District Meet on their way to the State Meet in Cedar Falls. Zoske took an 18-hole low of 67 and an average of 74.62 into the State Meet and was in a seven-way tie for fourth place in Class 3A rankings. The senior shot 140 (67-73) at the State Meet for third place. Freshman Ryder Laing shot 154 (79-75) for 28th. Senior Nolan Seagren had 157 (77-80) for 37th and returned to Solon in time to pick up his bat toward the end of game one of a varsity baseball doubleheader against archrival Mount Vernon. Junior Nick Stahle shot 164 (80-84) while sophomore Grant Gordon shot 165 (87-78) and junior Tyler Greazel carded 165 (80-85).
The Lady Spartan soccer team saw a late season surge and six-match win streak ended in a 5-0 Class 1A Regional Final loss to the No. 5-ranked Hudson Pirates in Hudson. Solon finished the season with an 11-7-2 record. Elena Swan (1st Team), Rose McAtee (1st Team), Sofia Ortega (2nd Team), Silvie Hendricks (2nd Team), Farrah Hendricks (WaMaC Recognition), and Addi Greene (WaMaC Recognition) earned WaMaC All-Conference honors.
The Spartan boys fell 3-1 in their Class 2A Substate First Round match against Assumption Catholic. Solon’s season ended with a 6-10-1 record. Caden Mai (1st Team), Tripp Johnson (1st Team), Ethan Ulch (2nd Team), Parker Mergen (2nd Team), Evan Burg (WaMaC Recognition), and Ryan Locke (WaMaC Recognition) earned WaMaC All-Conference honors.
Summer
The 2025 varsity softball season came to a painful end as Mount Vernon defeated the Lady Spartans 10-4 in a Class 3A Regional Semifinal game on the Mustangs’ diamond. Solon’s season ended with a 17-20 record overall. Izzy Frees (1st Team), Addie Miller (1st Team), Keegan Kleppe (2nd Team), Laeni Hinkle (2nd Team), Emerson Miller (WaMaC Recognition), and Liv Nelson (WaMaC Recognition) earned WaMaC All-Conference honors.
A severe thunderstorm with heavy rain suspended the varsity boys’ 3A Substate 5 first round game early in the first inning and moved it to West Liberty the following day where the Spartans fell 5-2 to Grinnell, ending the season at 19-14 overall. Tate Miller (2nd Team), Maddox Kelley (2nd Team), Luke Merrick (2nd Team), Carson Kidwell (WaMaC Recognition), and Nolan Seagren (WaMaC Recognition) received WaMaC All-Conference honors.
Fall
Kennedey Whitford and Kiley Devery hit career milestones in Solon’s Class 4A Regional Semifinal win at home over Clinton with Whitford breaking the Lady Spartans’ record for digs (with 1,541) while Devery celebrated her 1,000th kill. Unfortunately, the celebration was short-lived as the Marion Wolves defeated Solon 3-2 (25-20, 25-19, 19-25, 22-25, 17-15) in the 4A Region 8 Championship match ending the Lady Spartans’ season at 29-10 overall. Devery (1st Team), Whitford (1st Team), Jozie Lahr (2nd Team), Amelia Guinn (2nd Team), Cydney Jaster (WaMaC Recognition), and Scarlett Ferrin (WaMaC Recognition) received WaMaC All-Conference honors.
Spencer Michels, a senior, was the only Spartan to crack the top-15 to qualify for the State Cross Country Meet and finished his prep career with a 59th place finish in 17:09.8.
Falyn Svalstad led the Lady Spartans to a sixth place team finish in the 2025 Class 3A State Cross Country Meet with a 17th-place finish in 19:11.3. Rounding out the top five for Solon were Addison Seamans (51st), Mailee Schmidt (59th), Liv Nelson (76th), and Quinn Armentrout (87th).
Avery Feuerbach, Madelyn Elkins, Ireland Hagarty, Ella Pressler, and Paige Anderson swam for the Iowa City High School Little Hawks this year. Elkins, a junior, performed her best when it mattered most, setting a personal record (PR) in the preliminaries of the State Meet by clocking an outstanding 25.42 in the 50-Yard Freestyle. Elkins also swam the first leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay with a final time of 1:42.73, good for 18th place.
After three shutouts and an 11-0 record, the Spartans’ football season came to a heartbreaking end in the UNI-Dome as Nevada upset Solon 29-10 in the Class 3A Semifinals. The Cubs knocked off top-ranked Clear Lake in a 24-14 upset in the quarterfinals.
Editor’s note: Madeleine Willis, Becky Holub, Jami Martin-Trainor, Joel Kellar, AJ Dolan, Jonah Frey, Ben Klein, Chris Meglio, Deacon Waddell, Drew Grimm, Sydney Goldberg, and Abby Princehouse contributed to this retrospective.